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coastal erosion

I read an article this morning about Louisiana coastal cemetaries and how they are becoming water logged due to erosion from the Gulf and surrounding wetlands. Some are under water; some are a barren wasteland of what it used to be due to salt water encroachment during storms. You can read it here.

Cemetaries are supposed to last forever. They’re a place to lay to rest our relatives and place where we can feel their presence when we visit. I view cemetaries as historical landmarks. I’ve enjoyed visiting old ones, searching for clues as to the history of the area, taking rubbings from headstones, searched for the oldest headstone, the youngest person buried there, the largest family plot, etc. You can find, by dates of the majority of the buried, what they may have died from: civil war injuries and deaths, yellow fever, and other maladies that swept through areas at specific times that historians have recorded.

My husband and I (with the kids tagging along) have taken road trips to visit historic cemetaries or the pay homage to famous southern baseball players, musicians or other historical figures (since we live in the South).

My family is buried in Baltimore, MD, on a hillside far from water. I don’t know how I’d feel about their cemetary being washed away like the ones on the Louisiana coast. Sad, perhaps. I don’t know that I’d do anything to move the deceased but I’d have to be put in that situation to really find my feelings. Nothing in the article I’ve referenced says the families are moving their relatives.

Life comes and goes, as do the waves of the Gulf or the many oceans. The dead will remain at rest where ever they’re placed. Maybe they should just be left alone.